can you winter camp in a pop up?

This is me in Yellowstone a few years ago.



For me and my family, the limiting factor was battery power. I had 2 propane bottles and 2 6v GC batteries, but 2 days was as far as we could go without some serious generator time to recharge. We had rigid foam under the mattresses and reflectix in the windows and reflective covers for the tenting but the furnace ran a lot.



We were snowed in, no road open in or out and when the sun came out it was one of the most beautiful sights I'd seen. It was a blast.

Eric

As a kid I slept in a pop up in winter. I remember waking up in the night and my nose having icicles hanging from it.

That said, it can be done. If I were running ANY heat source in a pop up, I'd have a carbon monoxide detector in there. It's a cheap safety net.

Theoretically you could skirt around the outside of the trailer, and hand more insulation around the tent ends... even some sleeping bags hung around the walls would keep some heat in... not sure who elaborate you want to get.

I have seen pics with a few inches of snow on the canvas. Bring extra propane and verify you will have electric power.

Golden_HVAC wrote:
I know someone who did on a regular basis, while out hunting for deer. One winter, they where huttled around the stove, with the furnace blasting, and shivering! But it was better off then in a tent, no stove or furnace! They lived in Grants Pass Oregon, but I have no idea where they where camping at.

You might try one of these if you want to be really comfortable in the winter.

Aliner.com

You might also consider a Olympic Catalytic Safety heater. It puts out barely any CO gas, while something like Mr. Buddy heater can put out more CO and it not designed for such small enclosed spaces.

Fred.

The Mister Buddy Heater is designed to shut off instantly if it tips over - or - if the oxygen level gets too low. I've tested it for both events while tent camping many times. Only problem is moisture buildup on the inside of tent which is normal for unvented catalytic heaters. Of course, one must follow common sense as far as adequate ventilation is concerned!

Golden_HVAC wrote:
I know someone who did on a regular basis, while out hunting for deer. One winter, they where huttled around the stove, with the furnace blasting, and shivering! But it was better off then in a tent, no stove or furnace! They lived in Grants Pass Oregon, but I have no idea where they where camping at.

You might try one of these if you want to be really comfortable in the winter.

Aliner.com

You might also consider a Olympic Catalytic Safety heater. It puts out barely any CO gas, while something like Mr. Buddy heater can put out more CO and it not designed for such small enclosed spaces.

Fred.

The Mister Buddy Heater is designed to shut off instantly if it tips over - or - if the oxygen level gets too low. I've tested it for both events while tent camping many times. Only problem is moisture buildup on the inside of tent which is normal for unvented catalytic heaters. Of course, one must follow common sense as far as adequate ventilation is concerned.

germanic333 wrote:
thank you all, yes rfryer , that was what i was thinking, to heat up the pop up before closing. I am not looking to go to canada or anything but 2 months ago I was in PA and it got down to 33 F at night, and it made me wonder how cold it would have to be, to possibly crack either the vinyl or the plastic windows. thanks again..

We camped in our Niagara last December with high temps in the upper 30s and lows of upper 20s. We had booked the weekend about 8 weeks earlier not expecting a bad cold snap to happen. Decided to go for it and had a great time.

With a small electric space heater and the pups furnace we stayed plenty warm. We did run out of propane part way thru but Ive since added a second tank to the pup. Had we started with a fresh tank it wouldve been plenty for the weekend- Ours was about half full.

Before packing up I kicked the furnace up and put the space heater facing each bunkend to soften the canvas and windows. No issues there.

We did have popup gizmos over the slide and bunkends and they seemed to help. Otherwise we slept in 40 degree sleeping bags with a blanket over us..It turned into a great weekend that we still talk about.

We camped in a pop-up when the air temp dropped below twenty degrees. It was so cold the kids Fluff froze solid. The heater didn't have a blower so that really didn't help and having some experience with carbon monoxide poisoning I left one of the windows cracked for fresh air. The one thing we had that worked were good sleeping bags.

thank you all, yes rfryer , that was what i was thinking, to heat up the pop up before closing. I am not looking to go to canada or anything but 2 months ago I was in PA and it got down to 33 F at night, and it made me wonder how cold it would have to be, to possibly crack either the vinyl or the plastic windows. thanks again..

You can do it; I made many winter hunting trips in an older Coleman PU in frigid and sometimes sub-zero weather. I can tell you from experience, though, a properly set up wall tent with a catalytic heater will be much warmer than a PU, air can’t get under a tent. You could use the heater in a PU too, but like a tent, you need air circulation and I wouldn’t run it overnight. If you run the furnace in the PU you need some means of recharging your battery, it can knock the battery down in one night.

I didn’t use a heater and everything froze, food, water, drains, and sometimes the propane stove wouldn’t light. I survived with a bulletproof old Coleman gas stove and lantern. That was my heat in the morning and evening when I cooked breakfast and dinner. The rest of the day I was tramping the hills and wasn’t in camp. I depended on old real down sleeping bags and jackets, not the modern junk mixed with feathers, if I wasn’t running the stove. So if you can take the cold well and have good winter gear, you can do it. I can’t speak to vinyl, mime was canvas. But it had plastic windows and before I dropped the top I’d heat the PU up so I didn’t crack the windows when I closed it up.

I did it for years in Florida. Depends entirely on location.